I Promise
by x-OmgItsRach-x
Summary: When Gabriella moves to East High, she falls in love with Troy... but can her abusive dad come in between them? And what is Gabriella hiding? Trailer inside!
1. Trailer & Intro

TRAILER:

**He's the popular star of the basketball team.**

_(Shows Troy laughing with friends.)_

**She's the nerdy new girl.**

_(Shows Gabriella answering a question in math class.)_

**They're worlds apart. **

**But they find love against all odds.**

_(Shows Troy giving Gabriella a bunch of flowers)_

**But the question is…**

**Can their love survive?**

Troy: I know our love's gonna last forever.

**Or will it end in disaster?**

_(Shows Gabriella crying.)_

**Because she has a dark secret...**

Gabriella: I have something to tell you, Troy…

_(Shows Gabriella being hit by her dad.)_

_(Shows Gabriella being pushed to the floor by Chad.)_

Troy: Oh. My. God.

**Can one man ruin all their happiness?**

Troy: Surely you're not gonna let one idiot ruin our relationship?

**Starring Zac Efron as Troy**

_(Shows Troy smiling.)_

**And Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella**

_(Shows Gabriella playing guitar.)_

**In 'I Promise'**

**A story of over controlling parents**

Mr. Montez: You aren't to see that boy again.

Gabriella: But why not?

Mr. Montez: BECAUSE I SAID SO!!

Gabriella: I HATE YOU!!

**Finding happiness**

_(Shows Gabriella hug Troy.)_

Gabriella: I was broken… but you made me whole again, Troy.

**And above all…**

**Love**

Troy: I'll always love you, Gabi.

Gabriella: Promise?

Troy: I promise.

'**I Promise'**

**Coming soon to a computer screen near you…**

**Note From The Author**

**My first story on FanFic!! DD So if it's rubbish, please don't bite my head off. P**

**The story starts in first person, but you don't find out who's POV it is until the end. Then it goes into third person as the story continues. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM or the characters. All I own is the plot DD**

**Enjoy the story!! DD**

Introduction

There's not one day I don't think about what happened on that fateful day ten years ago.

It's the anniversary today. Ten years since we heard that boom. The boom that changed our lives. No, the boom that took away forty-six lives, including those of nine people I was very close to.

The boom that took away my life.

I'm not dead- well, not what you'd class as dead. My heart, although it is broken, still beats. Blood still pumps through my burned, scarred body. My mind, it still thinks, of what I lost that day.

But inside, I'm dead. Because every reason to live I ever had was mercifully snatched from me.

But on that day, I didn't just lose. I gained as well. And it's because of what I gained that each day I get out of my bed.

Maybe I should start from the beginning…


	2. New Girl

New Girl

New Girl

It was the first day of a new year at East High. Junior year. Just two more years and they'd be adults. Two more years of being treated like little kids.

"Hey, dude!!" Chad Danforth yelled, giving his best friend, Troy Bolton, a friendly punch on the shoulder. It was their way of greeting each other- hugging was way too girly.

"Yo, Chad!" Troy grinned. "So, you had a good summer?"

But before Chad could answer, there were two loud yells of "Troy!! Chad!!"

It was their friends Jason and Zeke. Jason had jumped on Troy's back from behind, and Zeke was ruffling Chad's wild, curly hair.

While they were all goofing around, Taylor McKessie walked past, frowning at them. Trust the basketball boys to act like five-year-olds, even in junior year.

"Will they ever grow up?" She said to her friend Martha Cox.

Martha smiled and opened her mouth to speak, but Taylor never found out what she was going to say, because they heard a loud scream from behind them.

They rolled their eyes as they turned around to see who else but Sharpay Evans, making a scene as usual. Wearing a white halter top, pink mini skirt, pink stiletto shoes and a pink feather boa, she practically had a 'Look at Me!!' sign pointing over her head. She treated school like a fashion show.

Her twin brother, Ryan Evans, and friend Kelsi Neilson, were desperately trying to calm down.

"Calm down?!" Sharpay shrieked. "How can I calm down? I've BROKEN A NAIL!!"

"So? You're still fabulous!" Ryan said, and Sharpay burst into tears.

From a safe distance, the new girl was sat, leaning against a tree, watching all the commotion. There was a blonde girl wearing pink, who looked like a Barbie in her opinion, who was freaking out because she'd broken a nail.

"MY LIFE IS OVER!!" She could hear the girl scream.

The new girl shook her head. As if her life was over. Pathetic. She was overreacting. If anybody's life was 'over', it was hers.

This summer, her mom had been shot and killed in a robbery at the groceries store, and she'd had to move in with her dad, who she hated. He'd walked out on her when she was six and she barely knew him, but she could still remember that he hit her mom.

And he hit her, and yelled all the time, and she had some _really _nasty bruises… they were covered up with a long-sleeved black top and a long black skirt. She used to dress in bright, vibrant colours, but ever since her mom died, she wore black clothes, to match her blackened heart.

The bell rang, and with a sigh, Gabriella Montez got up and headed inside.

In Ms. Darbus's homeroom, rumours of a new girl were spreading like chicken pox.

"I saw her this morning," Zeke said. "She was wearing black clothes and loads of black makeup."

"Great, another emo, just what we need," Chad said, laughing.

"I saw her as well and I think she looked kinda upset. We should at least give her a chance." Zeke said, but Troy, Chad and Jason looked doubtful.

Suddenly the chat stopped. Gabriella Montez's cheeks burned as she felt everyone's eyes on her. Keeping her head held high, she found a seat on the back row, in the corner. She sat down.

Troy looked at the girl. His jaw dropped.

She was beautiful.

But she was an emo alright. Dressed head to toe in black, with heavy black makeup around her eyes, glaring round the room at everyone. There was no _way _she was going to fit in here.

Troy, Chad, Zeke and Jason were walking down the corridors in free period, when Chad nudged Troy. "Emo alert," he said.

Gabriella heard. But she didn't care. She walked right past them.

"Oi, Freaky! Going somewhere?" Zeke asked.

Gabriella sped up but Jason grabbed her arm and twisted it- hard. She didn't even scream.

Chad pushed her to the floor and kicked her- hard.

"That's for being a loser," Chad said.

Zeke and Jason laughed and joined in the kicking. Troy hung back, half-heartedly. He wasn't sure beating up the new girl was such a good idea.

"Hey, Troy, man, don't just stand there." Jason said.

"She needs to pay," Zeke said.

"She hasn't done anything wrong," Troy said.

"Yes she has. She's been a hideous emo." Chad said. "We're trying to beat the freakiness out of her. Why aren't you joining in? You're not in love with her, are you?"

"Course not," Troy said.

He would show them. So he grabbed her curly, dark hair, which he thought was beautiful, and yanked it, as hard as he could. He dragged her up and down the corridors by her hair.

It must have been painful. But the new girl didn't scream, or wince, or cry, or try to escape. She didn't do anything. It was like she'd given up all hope. Like she was used to the pain.

Troy felt guilty for a minute, but then the bell went. It was time for gym class.

Gabriella had had a terrible day. People had called her a freak and an emo and a loser all day. They had pushed her over in the corridors. They had looked and talked to her like she was a dung beetle.

The worst part was definitely being dragged down the corridor by her hair. No prizes for guessing who'd done that- the captain of the basketball team. Who else? Jocks were all the same.

But she didn't care. She didn't care about anything since her mom died.

She got into her dad's flat. Her dad was sat in his armchair, with a can of beer in his hand, as usual. He could drink himself to death for all Gabriella cared. Gabriella didn't care about anyone anymore.

"Get me another drink," Mr. Montez grunted.

"Get it yourself," Gabriella sighed, flopping down on the sofa.

Mr. Montez's grey eyes flashed with anger. "I beg your pardon?"

"You heard."

Mr. Montez stood up. "Don't you DARE speak to me like that! I am your father,

you ought to treat me with more respect…"

"You've never exactly acted like a father to me," Gabriella said flippantly, and her father smacked her, hard. He always did, at least three times a day, every day.

But Gabriella didn't feel any pain. She didn't feel anything anymore.


	3. I Don't Even Scream

Hey again from me

**Hey again from me. Hope you like the story so far. Just writing to tell you that I wrote the song 'I Don't Even Scream', and asking you to be a very nice person and review the story!! Anyway, happy reading!**

I Don't Even Scream

Gabriella was sitting in her bedroom with the window open, strumming a tune on her guitar, singing a song she'd written. The song was so emotional her heart was as she sang:

"_Another new day I get out of my bed,_

_Another new day when I wish I was dead,_

_Another new day, my head's spinning fast,_

_Another new day, I wish it was my last._"

The house next door also had a bedroom window open. The owner of the bedroom was Troy Bolton. He was watching TV when he heard the sound of a beautiful singing voice.

"_Another new day they call me a freak,_

_Another new day my eyes cannot leak,_

_What good is hurting, what good is crying,_

_Why let them see that inside I'm dying._"

Troy was mesmorised by the girl's voice. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He studied his muscular, tanned arm- he had goosebumps, that was how amazing the girl's voice was.

The sound seemed to be coming from next door. But the only person who lived next door was a man about his dad's age.

He looked out of his window. The girl who the golden voice belonged to had her back to him. Her hair was long, curly and brown.

Wait a minute. He knew that hair.

It was the same hair he'd dragged across the corridor earlier.

"_And I don't even scream,_

_I don't even scream,_

_I don't even tell them to let me be,_

_I don't even hurt,_

_I don't even feel,_

_I don't let them know how they're breaking me,_

_Coz I don't even scream_."

Troy was touched by the song. He had no idea how the girl was feeling.

Gabriella turned around to see none other than the guy who'd dragged her down the corridor by her hair staring at her. Oh great, _he_ was her neighbour. She went over to close her window- she'd heard the words, 'You're a freak' enough today. She didn't want to hear them again.

"No- don't." Troy said. He looked guilty. "I- um, I'm really, _really_ sorry I was a jerk before. I hope you can forgive me."

Gabriella shrugged.

"My name's Troy. What's yours?" Troy said friendlily.

"Gabriella." She told him.

_Gabriella_, thought Troy. _A beautiful name for a beautiful girl_.

"So, Gabriella, what was that song you were just playing?" Troy said.

Gabriella's face flushed with anger. "You were _listening_? I suppose you're going to drag me down the school corridors by my hair again because you don't like my music, aren't you?"

"Um… no. Because one, I'm deeply ashamed and sorry about what happened earlier and promise it won't happen again, and two, I _loved_ the song you were just playing."

For a fraction of a second, Troy thought Gabriella was going to smile. But she didn't. Troy smiled himself at the mere thought of Gabriella smiling. It would be such a beautiful sight. Seeing those beautiful brown eyes glittering with joy would make any boy weak at the knees.

"Um… thanks." Gabriella said, blushing.

"What's the song called?" Troy asked.

"'I Don't Even Scream'." Gabriella answered.

The title of the song reminded Troy of what happened earlier.

_Gabriella sped up but Jason grabbed her arm and twisted it- hard. She didn't even scream… It must have been painful. But the new girl didn't scream, or wince, or cry, or try to escape. She didn't do anything. It was like she'd given up all hope. Like she was used to the pain._

Troy noticed her arms, they were covered in bruises, red, black, purple and blue. He winced. Did him and his friends really do that to her before?

"I think you have an amazing voice." Troy said, as if that would make everything better.

"Um… thanks." Gabriella said awkwardly, then she added, "You know, you're the first person to know that I sing."

"Really?" Troy said, feeling honoured that he was the first person to know this wonderful secret- even if it was by accident.

Gabriella nodded. "Even my mom didn't know"- Gabriella trailed off and hung her head. She didn't want to talk about her mom. It would just make her day even worse.

"Um, I'll see you tomorrow Troy… I guess," Gabriella said, closing the window and drawing the curtains.


	4. Beautiful Smile

Beautiful Smile

Beautiful Smile

Gabriella's second day at East High was considerably better. They had math that day, and their teacher had got one of the equations wrong. Gabriella had nervously corrected her, and the teacher had congratulated her, and at the end of the class, Taylor and Martha approached her.

"Hey," Taylor said. "I'm Taylor McKessie, and this is Martha Cox." Martha smiled warmly. Gabriella wished she could smile. She tried, but couldn't bring herself to it. She hadn't smiled since her mother was shot. Without her mom, living in the hell hole of her dad's house, there was no reason to smile. So she nodded politely instead.

"You sure are good at math," Taylor said, getting straight to the point.

Martha nodded. "I don't think anyone's ever corrected Ms. Wood before."

"Martha and I are on the scholastic decathlon team, and we were wondering if you'd like to join," Taylor said.

"We have a contest in a few weeks, against West High." Martha said.

"Yeah, sure!" Gabriella said, nodding.

She'd hung out with Taylor, Martha and the rest of the brainiacs the rest of the week. She liked Taylor, Martha and their friends. Although they were far from living in the cloud of doom and misery that was her life, they weren't 'perfect# either, like Sharpay Evans and the basketball team. She was glad someone at this school was finally on her side.

On Friday, Gabriella was happy to see her dad was fast asleep when she got home. She tiptoed up to her room, not wanting to wake him, because if he woke up, he would hit her again.

She arrived at her room. It was quite big, but it was simple. The walls were white and the floor was wooden. She had a bed, a closet, her guitar and a framed picture of her and her mom when she was just seven. In the picture she was wearing a bright yellow sundress and a flower in her hair. She fought back tears as she picked up the picture and thought back to a happy time, a time where she could hug her mom any time she wanted, a time where she was truly happy.

_Oh Mom_, Gabriella thought, _Why aren't you here with me today? Why did you have to die?_

The hot, salty tears poured down her cheeks, and Gabriella thought, why shouldn't she cry? She shouldn't be ashamed. She'd lost the most important person in her life. Her heart was broken. Why shouldn't she cry?

Gabriella was so wrapped up in emotion that she didn't notice someone was watching her- Troy, from his bedroom window next door.

Troy was confused- what was it that drew his eyes to Gabriella's all the time? He didn't even know her. But he wanted to know her. But why? She was an emo. His friends hated her. She was a loser and he was popular. If he showed the tiniest piece of kindness towards her, his reputation would be crushed.

But Troy was also concerned. Was Gabriella still upset about yesterday? She hadn't shown any signs of emotion. But maybe she was just good at putting on a brave face.

Now was the time for Troy to make his decision: what was more important, his rep or Gabriella?

The decision was easy. By instinct he opened his window. "Gabriella?" He called. "You OK?"

Gabriella turned around. "Of course I'm OK! Stop butting into my life!" She said, but she still had the tears spilling down her cheeks.

Troy sighed. Of course she was _not_ OK.

Gabriella sighed. Was that guy out to ruin her life? He'd gone from dragging her by her hair to butting in on the two most private things in her life- songwriting and missing her mom. Why oh why did that jerk live next door?

"You don't look OK to me," Troy said. "Hold on. I'm coming over."

Gabriella rolled her eyes. She didn't _want_ that lunkhead to come over. But he'd already started climbing down his balcony.

A minute later, Troy Bolton was in her bedroom.

"Hey! It's OK," He said, surprisingly soothingly, and the tears fell from Gabriella's big brown eyes again. He wrapped his arms around her and she cried onto his shoulder. Gabriella was surprised- of all the people she thought she could find comfort from, Troy Bolton was second to bottom of the list (her dad was at the bottom). He held her tight in his arms, and Gabriella felt safe, protected, warm… almost like how she felt in her mothers' arms, and the memory of her mom's hugs made the tears fall faster.

Troy looked at the beautiful girl he hardly knew, crying in his arms. Even though she had been crying so much her mascara had run all down her face and her nose had turned red, she still looked amazing.

Troy looked at the framed photo Gabriella was holding. The photo was of two people, a woman and a little girl, who looked about seven. They both had long, brown, curly hair, brown eyes and friendly smiles. They both looked startlingly alike and startlingly like Gabriella.

Troy smiled, guessing the little girl in the picture _was_ Gabriella. She looked even more pretty when she was wearing bright clothes and smiling. Troy wondered why she was emo. Why she was so upset.

"Why are you crying?" Troy asked, but Gabriella shook her head.

"Please," Troy said sincerely. The blue eyes met the brown ones. "You can trust me."

So Gabriella poured her heart out. She told him all about her mom.

"Omigod, I'm so sorry," Troy whispered, stroking her hair.

Gabriella couldn't believe how nice Troy was being. Holding her, comforting her, listening to her, wiping away her tears. And he didn't have to. He could have stayed in his room watching TV or talking to his friends. But he didn't.

Gabriella looked up at him. "Troy… thankyou," She said simply, but his little bit of kindness was enough. Enough to make her smile.

And when she smiled, the real Gabriella shone through.

It was the first time she'd smiled since her mom died.

Troy smiled back. Gabriella had a beautiful smile.


	5. Secret Place

Hi guys

**Hi guys! OK, just a couple of things: first of all, thankyou to the following wonderful people who have reviewed: 2pinkstar and 7blackberry, Blackrose990, kimberley7ox, Halle Alexis, Troyellaxfan and Mormon-Girl13. It meant a lot to me to have 6 reviews already within a day of posting it. Haha, I sound like I've won an Oscar and I'm making one of those 'I'd like to thank…' speeches. P**

**Second thing, I will try to update as much as I can, but it may be hard as we people in the UK haven't finished school yet and won't do for another 2 weeks, and Chapters 5 & 6 are proving to be quite difficult to write.**

**Happy reading, here's Chapter 5!!**

**Rach xx**

Secret Place

The next day in homeroom, Gabriella had cut down on the makeup, and was wearing deep purple instead of her usual black clothes. A lot of people commented on how nice she looked- even Sharpay Evans.

Sharpay gasped in shock. "Omigod! Is that _you_, new girl?" She said.

Gabriella nodded, smiling weakly.

"You look _amazing_!!" Sharpay said, smiling. "The colour _really_ compliments your eyes."

"Um… thanks," Gabriella said, blushing.

Sharpay introduced Gabriella to Ryan and Kelsi and then Taylor and Martha came over to join the conversation. Taylor was giggling and Martha was blushing furiously because she'd had a crush on Ryan since fifth grade.

The new friends were getting to know each other when Troy came over to them, nervously.

"Hey, Gabriella, can I talk to you? In private?" Troy said.

"Yeah, sure." Gabriella said.

They found a quiet corner of the room. Gabriella noticed that Troy had his hands behind his back, like he was hiding something behind it. Then Troy said: "I just wanted to give you this."

He produced a bouquet of flowers from behind his back. They were beautiful, red roses.

Gabriella gasped. "Thankyou!" She flung her arms around his neck.

"They're just to say sorry… for what happened on your first day."

Gabriella smiled. "You've already said sorry, Troy. You don't need to do this."

Troy's eyes twinkled. "Course I do. It's the least I can do. You're a special person, Gabriella… you deserve special things."

Gabriella blushed.

After homeroom, Gabriella went to her locker to get some books out. When she opened it, a note fell out.

Gabriella picked up the note from the floor, read it, and smiled.

It was lunch. Troy was in his secret place. It was above the science labs, and there were plants growing everywhere. He went there when he wanted to escape from the world, when he wanted to be alone. It was probably his second biggest secret.

His first biggest secret involved his feelings for a certain someone.

"Hey." Gabriella had climbed up the stairs that lead to Troy's hideout.

"Hey," Troy said back.

"Wow. It's beautiful up here." Gabriella said, looking around. The sun shone down brightly on the little hideout, plants bloomed everywhere in bright colours. Some flowers were the exact purple of Gabriella's dress. They were growing next to some flowers that were the exact blue of Troy's eyes.

"Yeah." Troy said. "This is where I go when I need to escape from the world."

"Why would someone like you need to escape from the world?" Gabriella asked.

Troy laughed. "You'd be surprised. You know… getting chased everywhere by lovesick cheerleaders is hard work."

Gabriella laughed. It was true- the cheerleaders worshipped the ground Troy walked on.

Troy smiled. Gabriella had an enchanting laugh.

"So, which of the cheerleaders are you dating at the moment?" Gabriella asked.

"What?" Troy said, confused. "I'm not dating anyone right now." He could have sworn he'd seen a small hint of happiness in Gabriella's eyes when he said those magic words. He grinned. If she felt the same way about him then this was going to be a lot easier. "But the question is…"

"No." Gabriella said, knowing what he was going to ask. "I'm not dating either. No boy would look twice at me."

"Really?" Troy said, shocked. "I find that hard to believe."

Gabriella nodded glumly, remembering. "All the boys at my last school said I was too ugly to live."

"Well, they were too _stupid_ to live," Troy whispered, reaching out to touch her hair. He tucked a lock of curly brown hair behind her ear and gently whispered into it, "I think you're beautiful."

Gabriella's heart stopped completely in that life-changing moment. Troy opened his mouth to tell Gabriella he was in love with her…

When the bell rang. But their time wasn't over. It had only just begun. They had eternity ahead of them.

Surely, forever was long enough for them.


	6. Blind Date

Blind Date

Blind Date

It was a month after Gabriella had moved into Albuquerque. People at East High were accepting her. Troy and Gabriella were falling deeper and deeper in love with each other, but were both too scared to admit it. Their friends, Chad, Taylor, Sharpay, Ryan, Kelsi, Jason, Zeke and Martha, could all see that. Everyone could see that Gabriella had feelings for Troy except Troy himself, and Gabriella was blind to Troy's feelings for her, even though everyone else could see them.

Gabriella was a happier person on the outside. She smiled more, laughed more, wore bright clothes to school.

But on the inside, things were terrible. Still no one knew about her dad. And he was getting worse than ever, hitting her harder, yelling at her more often, making her life a misery.

Sure, she was enjoying school. She was getting good grades and she had good friends. But as soon as she walked through her front door again, she hated her life.

Luckily for Gabriella, her dad was going away for a while. He was going on a trip with some friends. Gabriella couldn't get her head around the fact her dad had friends. What sane person on earth would want to be friends with someone who only ever sat around, drinking beer and making his teenage daughter's life hell, simply because he was too lazy to make anything of his life?

Still, Gabriella was just glad he was going. She could have the place to herself for a while. Better still, she could go out.

Mr. Montez was gone on Friday night when Gabriella got in from school- which was great timing, because her dad never let her go out, but tonight was the night of Sharpay and Ryan's joint birthday party, which was guaranteed to be the party of the year.

It was a couples party, and people wouldn't be allowed to go unless they could find a date before the big night. Both twins loved matchmaking. Sharpay was going with Zeke and Ryan with Martha. Taylor was going with Chad. Jason was going with Kelsi.

But on Friday morning, Gabriella still had no one to go with.

"I can't go to the party, Sharpay. I'm sorry," Gabriella said.

"What?!" Sharpay said. "Why not?"

"I… um… can't get a date," Gabriella admitted, embarrassed.

"Really?" Sharpay said, eyes popping. "Goodness gracious, Gabi. If you can't get a date, there's not much hope for the rest of us, is there?"

Then a thought came to mind. Sharpay's brown eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Gabriella, you _will_ go to the ball!" Sharpay said, so heroically that Gabriella laughed.

"I'm being serious!" Sharpay said. "I'm gonna find you a date."

"Who?" Gabriella asked.

"You'll find out tonight," Sharpay said, grinning impishly.

Gabriella sighed. She didn't want her first date to be a blind date.

But Sharpay knew what she was thinking. "I won't let you down, Gab. But it's my birthday! You can't miss my birthday party." She did her puppy-dog pout. "Pretty please? With a cherry on top?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes, smiling. "OK then."

"Yay!" Sharpay said, hugging Gabriella. Then the bell rang. It was time to go to

homeroom.

It was half an hour before the party was due to start, and Gabriella was beginning to wish she'd never agreed to go.

She was freaking out over this whole blind date thing. What if he- whoever he was- laughed in her face and told her she was too ugly to date him? And she had absolutely _nothing_ to wear.

She eventually decided on a floaty white dress, teamed with silver high stilettos and a white flower in her hair. She had just finished applying her makeup when Taylor came to pick her up in her car.

"Wow, girl. You look amazing." Taylor, who was wearing a black dress, said.

Gabriella blushed. It was her worst habit, to blush whenever someone paid her a compliment. "Thanks, so do you."

Gabriella hopped into Taylor's car. Taylor drove up to the twins' house. It was a pretty impressive house they lived in- it was a huge, white stately home, with three storeys and a pool at the back. They could hear the music from outside- 'Don't Stop The Music' by Rihanna was playing.

"I wonder who my date is?" Gabriella said.

"I don't know," Taylor lied, a smirk on her face. "Does my lipgloss look OK?"

"Ladies, you made it!" Came the voice of Ryan Evans, who was standing in the doorway, greeting people. He was wearing a designer white suit with a pink tie and pink hat, something probably only he could pull off.

"Happy birthday, Ryan!" The two girls said, giving him their gifts. Taylor had got him his favourite band's latest CD, and because Gabriella couldn't buy him anything because her dad never gave her any money, she had simply baked him some brownies.

But it was the thought that count, and Ryan was happy.

"Thanks!" Ryan said, as they all exchanged hugs.

"Where's Sharpay?" Gabriella asked. "She's arranged some stupid blind date for me."

Ryan grinned. "That's so Shar. Coming up with crazy ideas like that." But he knew all about it, and thought it was a great idea.

Just then, Chad's car arrived. Chad had given Troy, Zeke and Jason a lift. Chad went to kiss Taylor on the cheek, Zeke and Jason went over to give Ryan their gifts for him. But Troy only had eyes for one person- Gabriella. She looked so beautiful tonight, she took his breath away.

"Hey!" He said. "You look nervous."

"And you look annoyed," Gabriella said. She was thinking, _OMG, Troy looks gorgeous_.

Troy laughed. He and Gabriella had only known each other a month, but they could read each other like books. Troy sometimes forgot he and Gabriella had only known each other a month, it felt like they'd known each other forever.

"Well, what are you so nervous about?" Troy asked.

"I couldn't find a date for tonight, so Sharpay's gone and arranged a blind date for me. She thinks it's the most wonderful idea in the world, but I'm really nervous, because whoever it is will probably laugh at me." Gabriella said.

"No, they won't. Your date is a lucky guy," Troy said, wishing that _he_ could be Gabriella's date. Oh, why had he been too chicken to ask her? "Sharpay seems to like blind dates, coz she's set one up for me as well. And that's why I'm annoyed. Coz the guys all seem to know who it is, and they were all laughing about it when I was stressed out in the car."

By this time, Martha and Kelsi had arrived, and Sharpay had come out. Martha was wearing a red dress, Kelsi was wearing a sky blue dress and Sharpay was, of course, wearing pink. No surprises there.

"SHARPAY!!" Troy and Gabriella yelled. Sharpay grinned and walked over to them.

"Yes?" She said, innocently.

"Don't you think you should tell us where- and who- our dates are?" Troy said.

"Oh yes, thank you Troy, I'm having a great birthday, thanks for asking." Sharpay said, laughing. "Come _on_ Troy. Surely you've worked it out."

"Worked what out?" Troy said. Gabriella smiled at how adorable those ocean blue eyes looked when they were confused.

"Who I've set you up with!" Sharpay said, laughing.

"Maybe you should give him a clue," Gabriella suggested.

Sharpay laughed. "OK then, Troy… here's your clue… look to your right." Sharpay said.

Troy looked to his right- where Gabriella was standing.

"Gabi's my date?"

Sharpay clapped. "Well done, Einstein." She said sarcastically. Troy would have been annoyed normally, but he was happy and relieved that Gabriella was his date.

Troy smiled- this was his one chance to win Gabriella over. He couldn't afford to be a chicken tonight. He offered Gabriella his arm. "Would you care for me to escort you into the premises, my lady?" He said, like a true gentleman.

Gabriella giggled and curtsied. "Why, of course," She said, taking Troy's arm. He lead her into the Evans' impressive garden, where the party was taking place, the other four couples following behind, smirking. So far, their plan to get Troy and Gabi together was working.

Several round tables had been set out in the garden, and loud music was blasting, this time it was 'Don't Phunk With My Heart' by Black Eyed Peas, but only a few people were dancing, most were just greeting each other and the Evans'.

The gang found a table and sat down. Gabriella was next to Troy, with Taylor on her other side. Chad was in between Taylor and Zeke, Sharpay was in between Zeke and Ryan, Ryan was in between Sharpay and Martha, Martha had Kelsi at her other side, and Jason was sitting next to her.

The party was a blast. They ate, they drank, they danced. The area where people were dancing was now packed- 'Grow Up' by Simple Plan was playing, and the whole gang were leaping around like idiots. This was the happiest Gabriella had felt for a _long_ time. Slowly but surely, the colour was coming back to her life.

Troy was happy, too. He was dancing like an idiot to a song he loved, with the people he loved, but what made him more happy than anything else was seeing Gabriella so happy.

The DJ said, "Now, the time's come to grab your dates for a slow dance!"

Troy put his arms around Gabriella's waist, and Gabriella put her arms around Troy's neck. They both felt the spark when their skin touched.

The song 'So Close' from the movie _Enchanted_ was playing. Troy and Gabriella's bodies moved, in perfect rhythm with each the song, in perfect rhythm with each other. They were so close together they could even hear their hearts were beating to the same rhythm.

Troy took a deep breath. "Gabi," he whispered.

"What's up?" Gabriella whispered back.

"I… have to tell you something," Troy said.

"You're pregnant," Gabriella said, smiling weakly. Troy burst out laughing.

"C'mon Gabi… surely I haven't put on that much weight?!"

They laughed for a moment, then Gabriella said seriously, "What is it?"

Troy bit his lip. How could you tell a girl that you were in love with her?

"Nothing." Troy said.

Then something happened, and neither Troy or Gabriella knew how it happened. It was as if there was some magnetic force in between them, attracting them to one another, and suddenly they were attached by the lips. For both of them, it was the most blissful ten seconds of their entire lives. It was like they'd been _waiting_ their entire lives, just for that one kiss.

The kiss that sealed their eternity.

Troy didn't need to tell Gabriella he was in love with her. Gabriella didn't need to tell Troy she was in love with him. They say actions speak louder than words, and that kiss practically screamed the truth. They now knew they were in love.

When they came apart, Gabriella said weakly, "Um… I guess we're going out, then?"

Troy kissed Gabriella again.

Gabriella giggled. She loved the feeling of Troy's lips on hers. "I'll take that as a yes, then."

**OK, I'm sorry if getting them together was a bit slow. The REAL story starts happening in the next chapter, if everything goes to plan.**


	7. Because I Said So

Enough with the Troyella lovey-doveyness, this is where Mr

**Enough with the Troyella lovey-doveyness, this is where Mr. Montez gets REALLY evil. And where the real story starts.**

Because I Said So

Both Troy and Gabriella had gone to sleep with smiles on their faces on Friday night, and both had woken up with smiles on their faces the following morning.

However, somewhere else, Mr. Montez was _not_ happy.

"What do you _mean_, we didn't book?" Mr. Montez said angrily to the flustered looking woman on reception.

"Exactly that," the woman said.

Mr. Montez looked around angrily at his friends: Bruce, Bill, Bob, Steve, Ken, Jeff and Jim, who'd come on this holiday with him.

Bob, sensing he was going to blame them, said, "Don't look at us like that. It wasn't our fault."

"Well who's fault was it, Bob?" Mr. Montez said, angrily.

"I don't know!" Bob snapped, losing patience.

Jeff, the calm one, said, "Give the guy a break, buddy. It was a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes."

"Well, mistakes aren't good enough, are they?!" Mr. Montez roared. He picked up one of the chairs in the lobby and threw it at Jeff, who darted out of the way just in time.

"What was that all about?" Ken said, but then a beefy, bald security guy came over and grabbed Mr. Montez.

"You're going to have to leave now. And never come back to this hotel again," The security guy said, pushing Mr. Montez out of the hotel.

Meanwhile, back in Alberqerque, Troy was at Gabriella's house. They were just hanging out, listening to music, and doing homework.

Well- one of them was.

"Hey Gabs, what's the answer to question three?" Troy asked. Gabriella sighed for the umpteenth time. "You know I can't tell you the answers, Troy. For one, it's cheating, and how will you learn anything if you don't do the work for yourself?"

Troy sighed, deciding this homework session was getting a little too boring for his liking. So he got up, walked over to Gabriella and snatched her book from her.

"Hey!" Gabriella said, hands on hips, pretending to be annoyed. Troy smirked at her. "Want it, can't have it, want it, can't have it…" Troy was chanting as he ran around Gabriella's room with her book high above what she could reach.

"Oh really," Gabriella said, and they started chasing each other all around the room, squealing with laughter like five-year-olds.

Suddenly, Troy tackled Gabriella to the ground, he was lying on top of her. Their faces were one inch apart, and for a moment they just stared into each others' eyes, reading each others' minds.

Troy reached out to take Gabriella's top off, but then he stopped.

"Gabi… are you sure about this?" He said, stroking Gabriella's hair.

Gabriella nodded. "Are you?"

Troy nodded. "I'm just… nervous."

"It's OK." Gabriella said. "I'm nervous too. But I think we're ready."

"But we've only known each other a three months." Troy said.

"But it feels like we've known each other our whole lives," Gabriella said.

Troy nodded. "You're right. You're always right. You see… I've only known you three months, but when I look at you… I know our love's gonna last forever."

Mr. Montez's day was going from bad to worse. First of all, he had found out that thanks to his idiotic friends, they _weren't_ having a holiday after all. And now he was in his car, stuck in traffic. And it was raining.

He hated his car. It was really small, really slow and really stuffy. He'd always wanted a racing car. But one day he'd have one. Because his daughter was going to concentrate on her studies instead of being distracted by boys, and she'd get a good job and make him rich. That's what he'd told her. And they both knew that what he says goes.

He arrived at his house. He expected the house to be spotless and her to be sitting in her room, out of trouble. He expected her to get him a beer as soon as he got in.

"GABRIELLA!!" He yelled. But she couldn't hear him. He could hear music and laughter from upstairs. Laughter? She wasn't allowed to laugh. He couldn't tolerate the sound of laughter. He wasn't having it in _his_ house.

He stomped up the stairs and flung open the door of his daughter's room without knocking, like he always did.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head.

There, he saw his daughter, in bed, with a _boy_.

"GABRIELLA MONTEZ!!" He yelled. Gabriella and the boy looked up, mortified.

There was an awkward silence.

"Um… is this your dad, Gabi?" Troy asked, but Gabriella was too embarrassed- and scared- to reply.

She knew what was going to happen next.

Her father's face turned purple with rage. "HOW… DARE… YOU!!"

He ran over to the bed and pushed Troy out. He ignored Gabriella's desperate scream of, "DAD, DON'T!" He pinned Troy up against the wall, holding him by his neck, and he punched him in the face, again and again and again.

"YOU… SCUMBAG…"

"Don't talk about Troy like that!" Gabriella screamed.

"I'LL DEAL WITH YOU LATER!" Mr. Montez yelled at her.

Two hours later, there were more bruises than skin on Troy's body, and Mr. Montez had broken his nose. Gabriella had told her dad to back off and leave Troy alone, but then Mr. Montez had got a knife out of his pocket, pointed it at her and said, "IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP AND LET ME GIVE THIS FILTH WHAT HE DESERVES, YOU DIE!"

"I DON'T CARE!" Gabriella yelled, but Troy had said, "Please… Gabi… it's not worth it… I don't want you to get hurt…"

It made Gabriella sick, watching Troy in so much pain, and all because of her. It was her fault Troy was here. If it wasn't for her Troy wouldn't be in pain, he would be next door, maybe in his room watching TV, or in the garden practising basketball.

Mr. Montez pushed Troy to the ground.

"I'm going to let you go now. But if you tell _anyone_ about what happened, Gabriella dies… do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Mr. Montez," Troy said weakly.

"Good. Now you can go." Mr. Montez said.

Troy headed for the door when he looked back at a petrified Gabriella. What was this beast going to do to his Gabi? He couldn't let him hurt the most sweet, kind, beautiful girl in the world…

Mr. Montez saw Troy looking. "GO!!" He yelled, and Troy ran away, feeling like a coward.

When Troy was out the house, Mr. Montez turned to Gabriella, who was trembling in fear.

"You aren't to see that boy again," Mr. Montez said.

"But why not?" Gabriella asked. She couldn't imagine her life without Troy. If she hadn't met Troy she'd probably have committed suicide.

"BECAUSE I SAID SO!!" Mr. Montez roared.

"I HATE YOU!!" Gabriella screamed, tears in her eyes. Mr. Montez slapped her, hard across the face.

"If I ever catch you with that precious little boyfriend again… I'll kill him," Mr. Montez said, evil gleaming in his grey eyes.

And Gabriella knew that her father wasn't lying. That he actually _would _kill Troy if she saw him again. He was low enough to do something like that.

Why did she have a father that went out of her way to ruin her life?

**I HATE GABRIELLA'S DAD!!**


	8. Have A Nice Life

Have A Nice Life

**Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. This is a bit of a short chapter, so sorry about that as well. Thanks again to all those who have reviewed so far, and here's Chapter 8!!**

Have A Nice Life

Gabriella's bedroom curtains were shut. She didn't want to see Troy's bruises, because if she did see what her dad had done to her gorgeous boyfriend again, she would have burst into tears. When her dad was beating Troy up, she too felt the pain of every punch.

Gabriella sighed, her father's words echoing inside her head: _You aren't to see that boy again_. The thought of never seeing Troy's ocean blue eyes and the way they lit up when he smiled, never hearing Troy's wonderful, deep, soothing voice telling her she was beautiful, never feeling Troy's warm, cosy arms around her, making the pain go away… it was unbearable.

Gabriella picked up her cell phone and sent Troy a text message: _Hey. I'm sorry about wot happened b4. I should have done something. Luv Gabi x_

Almost immediately after, she'd get a reply: _Don't worry, if you'd tried 2 help me, he would have killed u, n I wouldn't want that 2 have happened. Did he hurt u? Luv Troy x_

_No, but he told me we cant c each other. Luv Gabi x_

_That's ridiculous. My life is nothing if I cant c u. Luv Troy x_

_But he said he'd kill u if he caught us 2geva agen. Luv Gabi x_

_We'll just hav 2 make sure he doesn't catch us then. Luv Troy x_

_I'm not taking any chances. Luv Gabi x_

Gabriella switched her phone off, a single tear rolling down her cheek, which was still red from the slap her father had given her.

On Monday, Troy appeared at school with a number of bruises, scars and stitches all over his face and body.

"Oh my God, Troy! What happened to you?" Chad asked.

Zeke laughed. "I never knew your voice could go that high, Chad."

Jason grinned too. "Yeah, you sound like his mom or something."

Troy bit his lip. Normally, he would have found what Zeke and Jason said funny, but after Gabriella had told him she couldn't see him anymore, he thought he would never laugh again.

"I… had a fight." Troy said. This is what he'd told his mom when she'd said exactly the same thing.

Troy wished he could tell the truth. If he did, then maybe Gabi's dad would be arrested and put in jail, where he belonged, with all the other animals that had made peoples' lives miseries, and he wouldn't hurt his Gabriella anymore. But he knew that he couldn't do that. He couldn't get the image of Mr. Montez pointing a knife at Gabriella out of his head. But how could somebody treat their own daughter like that?

Gabriella walked down the corridor, obviously avoiding making eye contact with Troy. But Troy, on the other hand, wanted to talk.

"Gabi," Troy said, running over to her.

Gabriella walked past without saying a word, or even glancing in Troy's direction.

Troy grabbed Gabriella's wrist.

"Please. I have to talk to you." Troy said.

"I can't talk to you," Gabriella whispered. "You know I can't. It's for your own good."

"I'd rather be dead than live without you," Troy said.

"But I don't think I could survive if you were dead," Gabriella said.

"It can't be any worse than not talking to me," Troy said.

"I just don't want him to hurt you. You don't deserve to be in pain," Gabriella said.

"I _am_ in pain, Gabriella!" Troy snapped. "Because you're not talking to me! I'm nothing without you! Please, just…"

"I can't." Gabriella said firmly, trying to keep the sadness out of her voice. All she wanted was to fling her arms around Troy and tell him that she'd always love him and would never leave his side, and that one day they'd get married and have kids and live happily ever after…

But she couldn't.

"Have a nice life, Troy," she said instead, walking away.

Troy watched his whole life fall apart in front of him.

"Surely you're not gonna let one idiot ruin our relationship?"

But Gabriella didn't look back. She wasn't going to look back again.


	9. The Test

It was now a three weeks after Gabriella was told she couldn't see Troy anymore, and since the unwelcome news, Gabriella and Troy hadn't spoken to each other

The Test

It was now a three weeks after Gabriella was told she couldn't see Troy anymore, and since the unwelcome news, Gabriella and Troy hadn't spoken to each other. They'd wanted to. Every time they passed each other in the corridor they wanted to say 'sorry,' 'I love you', or even just 'hi'. But they didn't say anything.

Since Troy and Gabriella had split up, Gabriella started only wearing black again. People were calling her a loser again. She still had her friends- Taylor, Sharpay, Kelsi and Martha, and they were the greatest friends anybody could have asked for. But a big part of Gabriella's life was still missing. Nothing was the same without Troy.

Every night, they both kept their bedroom curtains shut. Whenever Gabriella's cell phone rang, she ran to answer it enthusiastically, but her heart would sink when she heard it was only either Taylor, Sharpay, Kelsi or Martha's voice on the other end of the call.

They both kept themselves busy, to try and take their minds off each other. Troy had a basketball championship coming up, and with his father as the coach, he got a lot of pressure to practise. But no matter how many hours a day he spent practising basketball, his mind would still wander back to Gabriella- and every day he spent without her, his basketball got worse and worse.

And Gabriella was kept busy with worry…

"Thank you so much for doing this, Taylor," Gabriella said to her best friend after school.

"You're welcome," Taylor smiled, although she wasn't particularly looking forward to this little shopping trip, she was helping a friend in need, and that was all that counted.

Taylor drove away in her car to the pharmacy.

She walked into the pharmacy, and walked over to the counter.

"Good afternoon, how can I help you?" The pharmacist says politely.

"I'd like a pregnancy test, please," Taylor says. The pharmacist doesn't look so polite when she raises her eyebrows, and a few people tut and sigh and glare at Taylor.

But the pharmacist gets Taylor the test. She handed over the money and drove home.

The next night, the pregnancy test Taylor had bought was in Gabriella's quivering hands. After being almost a week late and throwing up all the time, Gabriella suspected that she might be pregnant- with Troy's baby- but she couldn't buy a pregnancy test herself, because apart from school, she was never allowed out of the house.

After admitting to Taylor her suspicions in the girls bathroom, Taylor had immediately said she would get her the pregnancy test, and Gabriella was eternally grateful for that, because she knew that it must have been embarrassing, buying a pregnancy test at such a young age. But Taylor never once complained.

And now, Gabriella had taken the test. Feeling sick, she looked at the results.

The test was positive.

Gabriella Montez was pregnant.

Her instinct was to reach for her cell phone. She needed to talk to someone, and she knew just who. She went down the phonebook- past Chad, Jason, Kelsi, Martha, Ryan, Sharpay, Taylor, Troy…

She was almost about to press call when she stopped at Troy's name, but stopped herself. Why was she calling Troy? She sighed- in her heart, they were still together, still happy.

She went up one to Taylor, and called her instead.

"Gabi… did you do the test?" Taylor said straight away.

"Yeah," Gabriella said nervously.

"And?"

"I'm pregnant," Gabriella said, almost inaudibly.

"Oh… congratulations!!"

"Congratulations? Taylor, this is terrible. I'm sixteen. I'm not ready."

"Don't worry. I'll help you through it."

"And… Troy's the father." Gabriella said, tears falling down her cheeks. How would Troy react? She'd have to tell him… but how? He probably didn't even want to speak to her again.

And… even worse… what was her father going to say when he found out? He'd go mad. He could do something to hurt the baby… or even worse… Troy.

It was lunch. Troy was sitting in his secret place. He had his eyes closed. He wasn't sleeping, he was just… thinking.

About Gabriella.

About how wonderful her hair smelt. About her beautiful her laugh was. About what an amazing mom she'd be…

"Hey," A voice said quietly. Troy's eyes flew open- and there she was, Gabriella herself was standing before him.

"I have something to tell you, Troy…" Gabriella said nervously.

Troy turned his back on Gabriella. "If you're here to break my heart even more, then you can forget it."

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. For weeks he had just wanted to go back to how things were before with Gabriella… and now she was talking to him, he was being mean to her.

"Look at me Troy." Gabriella commanded.

Troy didn't respond.

"Troy. Look. At. Me." She said again, in the firmest tone of voice Troy had ever heard her use. Troy turned around.

But Gabriella lost all of her confidence.

"I-I-I-I-I'm… p-p-p-p-pre"-

"What?" Troy said, confused.

"I'M PREGNANT!!" Gabriella said.

Troy looked stunned.

"And it's yours. Definetely." Gabriella said.

"Oh. My. God." Troy said.

They stood there in silence, then Troy's face erupted into a big, beaming grin.

"I'M GONNA BE A DAD!!" He yelled joyfully, picking Gabriella up and swinging her in the air.

"Troy be careful! There's a baby in there!" Gabriella said, laughing. It was just like old times.

Troy put Gabriella down and looked into her eyes, seriously now. "Gabi… what's your dad gonna say?"

Gabriella sighed. "I don't know. I don't want you to get hurt, Troy… so I've decided maybe it would be best if I had an abortion."

"No! Don't do that! You can't kill our baby!" Troy said. "Please Gabi- we can find a way around it… please…"

Troy stroked Gabriella's hair. "Gabriella, for once, stop thinking about other people. Forget about your dad. All that matters is you and the baby. Answer this question from your heart, not your head: do you want to keep the baby?"

"Yes," Gabriella said.

"Then you can't live with your dad anymore." Troy said. "We can't have him hurting our little kid- that's like him hurting our future, and we need to show him we're strong enough to _have_ a future, that we can't let him or anyone else tear us apart."

"But where can I go? I can't stay at your house, it's too close to mine…"

"I'm sure we can figure something out. Does anyone else know about this?"

"Just you and Taylor."

"Right… well, I don't think we should tell anyone else… for now," Troy said. "Hey, I know? How about you hide here, in this school? It'd be perfect! It's warm, you can shower in the locker room, you can steal food from the cafeteria…"

"But what if Dad finds me?" Gabriella asked nervously. The mere thought of her dad made her tremble with fear. She hated that man.

"He won't. I know he won't." Troy said. "Because I won't let him."

Gabriella opened her mouth to protest, but Troy hugged her, and as soon as she felt his protective arms around her, she knew she was safe. She knew she trusted him.

"I'll always love you, Gabi." Troy whispered.

Gabriella's chocolate brown eyes locked with Troy's ocean blue ones.

"Promise?"

"I promise." Troy said, meaning it from the bottom of his heart.


	10. Payback Time

Payback Time

Payback Time

Gabriella took Troy's advice. She packed the little stuff she had and ran away from home. Well- it never really was like a home there. She never felt safe, loved or wanted there.

But all that mattered was that she didn't live there anymore.

Gabriella moved into East High. She hid in a basement that no one- other than her and Troy- knew about.

Troy's plan had been working very well. Living in secret in a school had proved to be much easier than she'd imagined.

Gabriella still went to school, but as the first few months went by, Gabriella's bump was beginning to show. Her and Troy had already secretly been to a scan and found out that Gabriella wasn't just having one baby- there were twins inside her, so the bump was going to be twice as big. And she didn't want the whole school to know about her pregnancy.

So she started wearing Troy's baggy sweaters to school, and miraculously, no one suspected a thing- other than Sharpay.

"Gabs, why do you keep wearing Troy's clothes?" Sharpay asked, suspiciously.

"Oh… I've put on a lot of weight… and… um… feel more comfortable in bigger clothes." Gabriella said. It wasn't exactly a lie.

When Gabriella got to six months, Troy insisted that she didn't go to school anymore. So Troy and Taylor, the only other students at East High who knew about Gabriella's pregnancy, told everyone that she'd gone to England to stay with her aunt. Of course, she didn't have an aunt in England, but what her fellow students didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

But Troy and Gabriella knew that once the babies were born, Gabriella couldn't exactly stay in East High. So Troy and Gabriella explained the whole situation to Mr. and Mrs. Bolton, about why Gabriella had run away, why she couldn't go back, and why they needed somewhere for the baby twins.

Mr. and Mrs. Bolton were great. They rented a small flat for Gabriella and the twins, which Gabriella moved into.

Troy visited Gabriella a lot. They'd sit on the sofa, going through baby catalogues and picking out cots, prams and little outfits for their new twins.

"Wow. I can't believe it," Troy said. "In three months, we'll be the parents of beautiful twins."

"Yeah," Gabriella said, smiling. "I dunno if I can wait three months."

"Me neither, but they're worth the wait."

"I hope the babies look like you."

"No, I hope they look like you."

"Wouldn't it be cute if they looked like both of us?"

"Yeah! And if they're guys, they're _definitely _being the next star players on East High's basketball team."

"But what if they're girls?"

"I'll teach them basketball anyway. Maybe I'll follow in my dad's footsteps and become the next coach. Then I'll make a girls' basketball team as well."

Gabriella laughed, and Troy hugged her. "Our lives are gonna be so perfect."

What they didn't know was that Mr. Montez was standing outside, and he could see them in the window.

Anger bubbled up inside of him. How dare Gabriella disobey him like that? He scowled as he saw the face of the boy she was with- the same boy he'd caught her in bed with before.

He hated her. He hated him more. He'd told Gabriella she was going to stay away from boys and make him rich. But did she listen? No.

His eyes widened in shock when he saw his daughter's belly. Was his sixteen-year-old daughter _pregnant_?

He was about to go up and teach them a lesson- but then an idea came into his head, and he smirked. He wasn't going to do anything- for now. But Gabriella would pay. Whatever disgusting creature that was inside her belly would pay. And her even more disgusting boyfriend would pay, too… he would make sure of that.


	11. The Game

Just to let you know, italics are flashbacks to what happened the night before, and normal text is the normal story

**Just to let you know, italics are flashbacks to what happened the night before, bold is a countdown, and normal text is the normal story.**

**Happy reading, get ready to hate Gabriella's dad even more than you did in Chapters 7 & 10!**

The Game

It was the last week of school before summer vacation- and, more importantly, the week of the basketball championship final.

East High were up against West High, their deadliest rivals. West High had beaten them three years in a row, which made East High even more determined to win this year.

And Gabriella insisted on watching.

"Gabs, you're six months pregnant, and it'll be really loud there, not good for the babies."

"Aww, but Troy, this is a really important game for you. I want to be there to cheer you on."

Troy let Gabriella talk him around in the end, and so on the night of the final, Gabriella, who was wearing one of Troy's oversized Wildcats hoodies to hide her pregnant belly, was sitting with Taylor, Sharpay, Ryan, Kelsi and Martha. Ryan and Martha, who were now dating, were holding hands.

"I thought you were in England?" Sharpay said, and Gabriella suddenly remembered everyone thought she was in England.

Luckily, Taylor said, "She's staying with me for a few days, just to watch the game."

The atmosphere was electric. One side of the gym was red and white, with banners that proclaimed 'GO WILDCATS!!' The opposite side of the gym was blue and gold with banners that declared 'GO KNIGHTS!!' The cheerleaders were dancing around, cheering their team chants, getting everyone ready for the big game.

It was so loud that Troy could hear every single sound from the gym in the locker room, where he was tying the laces on his trainers. Any minute now he'd be running out into the gym, with the rest of the team and the West High team, ready to face each other. In a couple of hours, one of them would have that trophy. And the other would be leaving empty-handed, ashamed.

"Hey," Coach Bolton, Troy's dad said, sitting beside him.

"Hey dad," Troy said. "Don't worry, I'm not going to forget our game plan, so"-

"I don't want to talk to you about the game plan." Coach Bolton said. "I just want you to know how proud I am of you, whether we win or lose."

_Mr. Montez took the keys out of his car's ignition. He'd arrived at his destination. A twisted, evil snarl was on his face._

"And I'm sorry that I've been putting so much pressure on you," Troy's dad carried on. "As long as you go out there, do the best you can do and enjoy yourself, that's all that counts."

"Thanks, Dad," Troy said weakly.

_Mr Montez was surprised at how easy getting in was. He grinned to himself, it was fate. This was meant to happen. He was meant to come out on top. He'd show them all._

Troy and Coach Bolton shared a hug, which was rare, as they both thought it too girly to show affection to family and friends.

"I love you, Dad," Troy whispered.

"I love you too," Coach Bolton whispered back, a tear in his eyes.

_Mr. Montez found the gym easily. Tomorrow, that wretched boy would be in here, playing basketball, hopefully losing. But it didn't matter to Mr. Montez how the score came out. Even if he won, he would pay._

Troy and Coach Bolton found the rest of the team and they walked out onto the gym, with the crowd roaring. Troy shook hands with West High's captain and the game began.

_Looking around to make sure no one was there, Mr. Montez carefully took his bulky, black rucksack from his shoulders, and carefully opened it…_

The game began. Gabriella, Taylor, Sharpay, Ryan, Kelsi and Martha watched anxiously. So far West High were winning and they had possession of the ball… but Chad ran over from nowhere, quick as lightning, and stole the ball… he passed it to Jason, who passed it to Zeke, who passed it to Troy, who scored East High's first basket.

"YES!!" Gabriella screamed.

East High soon caught up to West High, and they were drawing with twenty seconds to go.

_Mr. Montez placed the object carefully in the gym, in a place where nobody would find it._

"COME ON EAST HIGH!!" Ryan screamed.

West High had the ball, but Zeke stole it and passed it to Jason.

**11, 10, 9, 8…**

Jason dribbled the ball, running at a lightning speed, and passed it to Chad.

**7, 6, 5, 4…**

Chad passed the ball to Troy, who had a clear shot of the net.

**3…**

Troy caught the ball.

**2…**

Troy shot the ball.

**1…**

The ball circled around and around in the net…

**BOOM.**

Everything went black.

_Mr. Montez grinned. His plan had worked. He left East High without anyone knowing about the bomb ticking away in the gym._


	12. Aftermath

This chapter might be a little unrealistic, because I have absolutely no idea about how bombs go off

**This chapter might be a little unrealistic, because I have absolutely no idea about how bombs go off. Sorry.**

**I was nearly crying writing this chapter. I hope you enjoy it.**

Aftermath

Troy opened his eyes and looked around him. The gym was destroyed. The bleachers had all collapsed. He could smell smoke. Everyone was lying on the floor.

_What happened?_ Troy thought.

Then he remembered the explosion.

Troy's first thought was Gabriella. His second thought was the babies. Oh no! Please let them be OK…

There was a piercing scream, yet none of the others on the floor woke up. Troy bit his lip- were they dead already?

He forgot that, however, when he realised where the scream was coming from- Gabriella.

"GABI!!" Troy screamed, running over to her. When he got to her, he gave her a huge hug. "Gabs, are you OK? Are the babies OK? Please tell me you're all OK!!"

But Gabriella didn't respond- she just moaned in pain. She was sweating all over.

"Gabs, what's going on?"

"Troy… I think the babies are coming!!"

Oh no. For a start, they were three months premature, and secondly, they were in a room where a bomb had just gone off. These babies seemed to be doomed.

But for Gabriella's sake, Troy stayed calm. "It's OK, Gabi. I'll help you. Push, Gabi, push."

Meanwhile, some people had died straight away. Taylor and Kelsi were among them.

"Taylor's stopped breathing!" Martha said.

"NO! SHE CAN'T HAVE!" Sharpay cried.

"SHE HAS!!" Martha sobbed.

"WE HAVE TO HELP HER! SHE CAN'T BE DEAD!" Sharpay screamed, a tear rolling down her cheek.

Ryan checked Kelsi's pulse. "I… I think Kelsi's gone, too." Ryan said gently, though his voice was wobbling and his throat was thick.

"NO!! NOT KELSI! THEY CAN'T BE DEAD!" Sharpay screamed.

"Please, Taylor… please, Kelsi… come back to us…" Martha whispered, but nothing could bring their friends back from the dead.

"Guys, are you OK?" Chad asked, running over with Zeke and Jason.

But the looks on their faces said it all.

On the other side of the gym, Troy looked anxiously at the scoreboard, which had just fallen down, crushing two West High cheerleaders.

"Gabs… let's get out of here," Troy said, stroking his girlfriend's hair. "Or something might happen to us or the babies."

Gabriella nodded and started coughing. The smell of the smoke was getting stronger.

Troy picked up Gabriella and carried her to the male locker room. He sat on a bench and she lay whimpering in his arms.

An hour later, Gabriella was in so much pain there were tears running down her cheeks, and she felt exhausted.

"I can see a head!" Troy exclaimed.

Forty-five minutes later, both babies were born, a boy and a girl. They were both beautiful, with a mop of dark curls like Gabriella's and baby blue eyes like Troy's. Troy held them in his arms, beaming with pride. It would have been the happiest day of his life, bomb or no bomb.

But that was all about to change.

He looked at Gabriella, who looked frail and vulnerable, and knew something wasn't right.

"Troy…" Gabriella said, exhausted. "I… don't think I'm gonna make it…"

"What do you mean, you're not gonna make it?" Troy said, panic stricken.

"Exactly… that."

"Gabi, you can't give up!" Troy said, a desperate determination in his voice. He couldn't imagine his life without Gabriella.

"Listen…" Gabriella said. "If… I die… and you live… look after… our… twins…"

Troy nodded, stroking Gabriella's hand, which was holding his.

"Tell… them… every day… how much… I love them… and how proud I am… of them… in everything… they do…"

Troy nodded again, a lump in his throat. Tears started to form in his baby blue eyes. He knew know, although he didn't want to admit it, that any minute now, Gabriella could die. She'd inhaled a lot of smoke and was coughing a lot.

"Name… the… girl… Isabella… after my mom."

"I will."

"You promise me you'll do all those things?"

"I promise." Troy said, kissing Gabriella's nose. Gabriella must have known she was dying. She was making her last wishes.

"I was broken… but you made me whole again, Troy." Gabriella whispered. "I love you Troy…"

Gabriella's eyes started to close.

"NO! DON'T!" Troy yelled. "Please, don't leave me Gabi!"

"I'll still be with you," Gabriella said. "In… there."

Gabriella weakly pointed her free arm at Troy's chest.

"My heart," Troy said, and Gabriella nodded.

"I'll… be… with you… in everything… you do," Gabriella said. "Every night… when you tuck the twins into bed… I'll be there, telling you what a great dad you are. When… you make it as a basketball pro… I'll be at every game, cheering you on. And… when you die… we'll be buried side by side… and… I'll kiss you… and tell you how proud I am of you."

Troy nodded, crying his eyes out, hoping and praying that the moment would never come.

But it did.

Gabriella smiled, her last smile, but nevertheless, it was beautiful. "Don't cry, Troy. Be strong. For the twins' sake."

And so Gabriella Montez died at the age of sixteen in Troy Bolton's arms.


	13. Just Me And You Now

Just Me And You Now

Just Me And You Now

Troy woke up the next morning in the locker room, with Gabriella still in his arms. Their fingers were still interlaced. He didn't ever want to let go of her hand. He wanted to hold her forever. His first love, his only love, and some selfish person had gone and taken her away from him, just like that. How could they?

The twins were asleep, snuggled up in some blankets Troy had found for them. They looked so beautiful. Troy wished Gabriella could watch them grow up and see every dream that came true for them.

Then Troy remembered what Gabriella had said to him in those fatal last moments: _I'll be with you in everything you do._

Troy heard Gabriella's voice saying, "Aren't they cute? They have your eyes, Troy. I think Isabella's going to be brainy like me. But the boy's _definitely_ going to be a basketball star, like you. Have you not picked a name for him yet?"

"No, not yet, but I'm sure I'll think of something," Troy whispered back to her. The Gabriella that lived on in his heart.

He looked at the twins. He had promised to Gabriella that he would look after them. They were three months premature and born where a bomb had gone off. They were vulnerable, delicate and ever so tiny. Troy needed to get them to hospital as soon as possible.

"I'll always love you," Troy whispered into Gabriella's ear. He got up and scooped the twins in his arms.

When he'd entered East High the day before, he was a boy. But now, as he walked out, he was a man.

Isabella and the boy who still didn't have a name had to be put in incubators for a few weeks because they were born so early, but the doctor gave them both a good chance of survival.

Troy spent hours just looking at them, and then he remembered something. "I'll be back soon, little ones. Daddy loves you," He said, and then walked out.

The explosion was all over the news. Troy felt sick as he read one newspaper headline: _FORTY-SIX DEAD IN EAST HIGH EXPLOSION._

He picked up the newspaper to find out that all the survivors were in a church hall. He headed over to the church hall, desperate to find out who lived on.

He half-expected Gabriella to be there, sitting amongst the lucky ones, saying, "Hey! How are the twins doing?"

But she wasn't there.

"TROY!!"

Troy felt guilty when he turned around. He was guilty because he'd been disappointed when he saw it was Ryan. He'd been hoping it would be Gabriella, or his father or Chad.

But at least one of his friends was safe. He hugged Ryan, not caring if he looked girly, and when they came apart, Ryan had tears in his eyes.

"They're all gone, Troy." Ryan sobbed. "Taylor and Kelsi died pretty much straight away. Then the ceiling fell down, and Chad, Zeke, Jason, Martha and Sharpay got crushed…" Ryan gulped. "I was meant to die with them, but your dad pushed me out of the way, and… he…"

Troy too started to cry. Losing Gabriella had been bad enough, but losing his father, his best friend since kindergarten and six other close friends of his… Troy wondered how he was going to live.

But then he remembered his promise to Gabriella. He was going to live. He was going to be a great father to his beautiful twins, who meant the world to him. He was going to make Gabriella proud of him.

He had to make a good thing of this. He felt proud of his dad for dying to save someone else's life. He decided he too was going to name one of his children after one of his parents. There was going to be another Jack Bolton.

"Is Gabriella…" Ryan asked, but he stopped, knowing the answer from Troy's empty eyes.

"It's just me and you now." Ryan said. "And we can and will make it through this."

"Actually, Ryan… it's not just me and you." Troy said. "You see, Gabi was pregnant… she went into labour when the bomb went off… and she gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, but an hour later, she died… the twins both survived, though, even though they're premature, and I'm naming them Isabella and Jack. Isabella after Gabi's mom, Jack after my dad."

"That's a great idea," Ryan said. "And I think Gabriella would be very proud of you for the way you're handling this."

Troy smiled as he heard Gabriella's voice in his ears once more. "That's right, Troy. I'm so proud of you. And I love you with all my heart."


	14. Promises Kept

And so, we have reached the last chapter of this story

**And so, we have reached the last chapter of this story. I just want to thank EVERYONE who has reviewed my story, and all of the people who review in the future. You have all been so supportive and reading the wonderful things you wrote about my story has made my day.**

**And by the way, just so you don't get confused, this chapter is in first person. Think back to the intro where I said it starts in first person and at the end you find out who's POV it is.**

**I really hope you've enjoyed reading this, and congratulations to all who make it to the end of my little speech.**

**With love, as always,**

**Rach**

**x**

Promises Kept

"_Happy birthday to you,_

_Happy birthday to you,_

_Happy birthday Izzy and Jack,_

_Happy birthday to you!!_"

My now ten-year-old twins grin and blow out the candles on their cake, as all their friends cheer. I smile too.

I remember the first year or so. I know I promised Gabriella I'd stay strong and look after the twins and everything, but it was still so hard to live without her. She was my first love, my only love, and I'd only known her for ten months. We planned to have perfect lives. When we quit school, we'd buy a big house with a huge garden the twins could play in. We'd get married on Valentines' Day, we'd have one of those huge fairytale weddings, and Isabella would be the flower girl and Jack would be the page boy. We'd have more children, get a dog, grow old together…

And yet Gabriella died at the age of sixteen, having not done any of those things.

But Gabriella Montez lives. In my heart.

I dream about her every night. I dream that we're in the secret place, talking about stuff. She'd tell me what her, Taylor, Chad, Sharpay, Kelsi, Zeke, Jason and Martha were getting up to in heaven and how my dad was, and I'd tell her how Ryan and the twins were doing here in Earth. We're literally worlds apart, but we're still closer than anything.

I kept my promises to Gabriella. I've loved every second of being Isabella and Jack's father. I've stayed strong for their sake. I've told them both all about their mom, and every day I tell them how much she loves them and how proud of them she is.

Sometimes, when I feel lonely, I talk to Gabriella, and she talks back, words that I alone can hear. I mostly tell her I love her. Sometimes I tell her I miss her. I often tell her about Izzy and Jack.

But tonight, I thank her. I thank her for making the last ten years and ten months the best of my life.

I love you, Gabriella. And I always will.


End file.
